Americans living overseas apparently aren't too pleased with the July 1 tightening of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) to ensure payment of taxes on income garnered abroad by Americans.
And many of them are at least considering renunciation of their U.S. citizenship as a result, according to a new survey provided to Moneynews.
A total of 73 percent of 416 expatriate clients of financial advisory firm deVere Group said in September they have either "actively considered it," "are thinking about it" or "have explored the options of it."
Extrapolating the data to the estimated 7.6 million Americans living abroad, that means nearly 5.6 million Americans might give up their U.S. passports.
The number of Americans who have renounced their citizenship soared 39 percent in the third quarter from the same quarter last year after the introduction of the tighter rules, according to the Federal Register.
The survey results are "alarming," Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group, said in a statement.
"It is our experience that most Americans are extremely saddened at the prospect of giving up their U.S. citizenship to avoid the harsh implications of a new and utterly flawed tax law. . . . FATCA's reporting requirements are excessively onerous, burdensome and expensive."
Others share Green's view.
"What is really driving Americans to expatriate is not that they do not want to pay taxes," David Kuenzi, founder of Thum Financial Advisors, told
CNBC.
"What is driving them crazy is that now filling out tax returns is much more complicated. It requires tremendous work in terms of tax-record keeping and then it can cost thousands of dollars to get a competent person to fill it out."
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